Saturday 29 June 2013 14.55 EDT
First published on Saturday 29 June 2013 14.55 EDT

Considering everything that has been happening off the court lately, Bernard Tomic is doing a remarkably good job on it. With his father, John, banned from even making it inside the grounds of the All England Club, the 20-year-old could easily have been forgiven if he had just turned up and taken the money here this week. But, as in 2011, he is into the fourth round and, on Saturday's evidence, he could yet go further.

Tomic's victim was the No9 seed, Richard Gasquet, who came into the event on the back of an excellent six months but was edged out 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6. The Frenchman won more points and hit more winners but, crucially, Tomic won the one point that mattered most, the last, and now plays the No7 seed, Tomas Berdych.

It has been a tumultuous few months for Tomic. His father is awaiting a court date for allegedly assaulting the world No 59's former hitting partner in Monte Carlo. Tomic Snr was banned from attending regular tournaments in an official capacity and Wimbledon followed the lead of the French Open in banning him completely.

His absence has dominated the build-up around his son's matches here but strangely, it seems as if he is performing better without him. Their relationship has not been without its moments – Tomic asked for his father to be removed from the stands in Miami this year – but they are still working together behind the scenes.

On the court, Tomic is doing quite nicely on his own and, perhaps more importantly, he is rather enjoying himself. "I'm very, very happy," he said. "It's a huge win for me. I played very well. "The main thing is I'm having fun. I'm trying to relax as much as I can. In 2011, I had nothing to lose, I really stepped up and played really good. Now I'm feeling very similar. I'm going to keep this up, relax on court, have fun, see where it takes me."

What was impressive about Tomic was the way he shrugged off the disappointment of missing four set points in the second set to win the next two. His unique brand of tennis, mixing forehand slices with huge serves and frequent changes of pace is perfectly suited to grass and Berdych will not be in for an easy ride. "He hits a big ball," Tomic said. "You've got to be ready. I can use what I have and really give it to him because if I play my tennis, he's not going to like what I have to offer."

Berdych, the runner-up here in 2010, won the last four games against Kevin Anderson to clinch a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory and make it nine wins out of nine against the South African. But the Czech knows Tomic will be difficult. "He is a very tough and tricky opponent," Berdych said. "He can really, really be dangerous. His game is very different to the other guys. Patience is definitely going to be the word."

The eighth seed, Juan Martín del Potro, survived a nasty fall midway through the third set of his match with Grega Zemlja to book his place in the last 16. The former US Open champion looked to have twisted his left knee chasing down a drop shot at 3-0 in the third but played on and secured a 7-5, 7-6, 6-0 win over the Slovenian.

Another player reflecting on an injury was the Spanish fourth seed, David Ferrer, who was made to work hard in beating the Ukrainian 26th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 6-2. Ferrer later identified it as an ankle problem, but it did not stop him reaching the last-16 for a fourth successive time at Wimbledon.